Handsome, noble Lord Alistair McDonon’s gay life, as a denizen of London’s Beau Monde far, far away from his Scottish roots, comes to a sudden and abrupt end. When the tragic news arrives that his two brothers have drowned at sea, he is summoned to Scotland by his estranged father not only to take up his title of the Marquis of Kildonon and position of heir to the Chieftainship of the Clan but also to marry, Lady Morag McNain, in order to unite their Clans, who have been at war with each other for centuries. Horrified, Lord Alistair hastily proposes to his current lover, Olive Beverley – only to be refused and it seems that he is doomed to a loveless marriage in the windswept and distant Highlands. Suddenly, though, everything changes when he overhears a delicately beautiful young woman, called Arina, desperately begging the heartless Olive for enough money to pay for her beloved mother’s life-saving operation. Alistair steps in to help Arina, asking in return only that she accompany him to Kildonon Castle pretending to be his wife. So now no one can force him to marry Lady Morag – but little does Lord Alistair know that his demure ‘young pretender’ will soon be laying an irrevocable claim to his heart!

The beautiful Cassandra Sherburn has everything a young lady could possibly desire. Slender, flame-haired and alabaster-skinned and the heiress to her father’s immense fortune, her father has promised her hand in marriage to the dashing young Marquis of Charlbury, heir to the ancestral home and estates of the Duke of Alchester and she believes that she is in love with him. And over the years she has collected newspaper cuttings about him and pasted them secretly into albums. Now the Marquis’s father has died and he has become the Duke of Alchester. Yet Cassandra is not happy. Not only has she not set eyes on her ‘fiancé’ since she was a child, she has heard from a number of different sources that he is penniless. Is it just her money that he wants to marryWorse still, rumour has it that he has eyes only for the glamorous and seductive performers at London’s notorious Gaiety Theatre. Determined to find out for herself where his heart lies, Cassandra ventures to London in the company only of her disagreeable lady’s maid. She disguises herself as one of the racy actresses the Duke so admires and enlists the help of the celebrated Lily Langtry in order to meet him incognito. But little does she know of the perils that await an innocent young woman alone among the rakes and roués of London’s glittering lights.

Although her father is the acclaimed Music Hall performer, Keegan Kenway, his young daughter, Isla, who is ethereally beautiful, is never allowed even to go near the Music Halls, which were not deemed suitable places for a lady to be seen at. Now that her mother is dead, her father is close to bankruptcy and so desperate for the proceeds of a benefit show that, when his co-star is taken ill, he is reluctantly forced to allow Isla to take her place for the evening and he sings his famous sons Champagne Charlie and It was only a dream. After a supremely successful performance when Isla and he are acclaimed by an enthusiastic audience, Keegan Kenway disappears to a late night party and Isla, declining the invitation, goes home alone, where the party’s host, Lord Polegate, arrives to inform her that her father has collapsed and is still unconscious. In her dismay and anxiety, Isla agrees to accompany the persistent Lord Polegate to his country house, where she gradually realises that his intentions are very much less than honourable and she flees his house in terror. Lost and alone, she flags down a passing carriage on the main road and, to her immense relief, she is saved by the handsome and kind Marquis of Longridge, whose superb house is nearby. And already Isla is falling in love – But is it real or is it only a dream?

Dejected and jobless like so many other Servicemen after the end of the Great War of 1914-18, Tybalt Hampton escapes a ball in Berkeley Square and meets a delightful young girl who has also sought refuge in the little Temple in the nearby gardens because no one has asked her to dance. It is too dark to make out her face, but in an enchanted moment they kiss in the moonlight and a nightingale sings in the trees above as if just for them. Two years later the beautiful Aleta Wayte, the recipient of that anonymous kiss, and her brother, Sir Harry Wayte, are forced to let their beloved ancestral mansion to a millionaire American called Cornelius Wardolf, disguising themselves as servants in their own home and at their tenant’s beck and call. Of noble birth but penniless, Aleta still dreams of that handsome stranger. So, when Fate in the form of a road accident brings him injured to her door, her hopes are raised and then instantly dashed. In her guise as a lowly servant how can she reveal herself as Tybalt Hampton is now the fifth Duke of Stadhampton and anyway, because of his impoverished estates, he has been earmarked by Cornelius Wardolf to marry his attractive daughter, Lucy-MayIs it possible that Fate could be so cruel as to bring love so close only to snatch it away?

To afford the food and medicine her ailing mother needs, the beautiful Honourable Olinda Selwyn, daughter of the late Lord Selwyn, former Lord Chief Justice of England, is obliged to conceal her background to take employment with the Dowager Countess of Kelvedon as an expert embroiderer at the family stately home in Derbyshire. Taken aback to find that the ageing but still beautiful Countess is having a love affair with a dissolute young rake, Olinda sympathises with her estranged son, the Earl, who despises his mother for her loose morals. Drawn reluctantly into the Kelvedon family’s tangle of bitterness and resentment, Olinda finds herself gently advising the Earl – or as he puts it, inspiring him. But just as the love she has only ever dreamt of seems almost within her grasp, Kelvedon is rocked by a sudden and suspicious death – and, incredibly, the man she loves with all her heart stands accused.

When a dashing young gentleman runs into Wentmore Hall bleeding from his shoulder and crying, “Save me! Save me! If you cannot hide me, they will kill me!” the quick-witted beautiful young Novella Wentworth hides him in the secret passage that was used centuries ago by Catholic Priests escaping from the wrath of Queen Elizabeth and later the Royalists and the Cromwellians. The young man, Vale Chester, has been shot by Novella’s neighbour, Lord Grimstone, who demands to search the house for his quarry. Novella’s father, a General fighting in the Duke of Wellington’s Army in Spain, never liked Lord Grimstone, so she is naturally suspicious of him and his motives. And sure enough she finds that Vale Chester is a Government agent who suspects Lord Grimstone to be the leader of a smuggling gang landing French luxury goods illegally in England and therefore a traitor, as the English are at war with Napoleon Bonaparte. Taking Vale’s top secret coded message to the Secretary of State for War, Novella finds herself a part of the plan to capture Lord Grimstone and his gang of smugglers and a terrifying adventure begins. Now her own life, as well as Vale’s, is at stake and, as love blossoms in her heart, she finds that it is for his safety that she cares most.

A complete guide for Python programmers to master scientific computing using Python APIs and tools About This Book The basics of scientific computing to advanced concepts involving parallel and large scale computation are all covered. Most of the Python APIs and tools used in scientific computing are discussed in detail The concepts are discussed with suitable example programs Who This Book Is For If you are a Python programmer and want to get your hands on scientific computing, this book is for you. The book expects you to have had exposure to various concepts of Python programming. What You Will Learn Fundamentals and components of scientific computing Scientific computing data management Performing numerical computing using NumPy and SciPy Concepts and programming for symbolic computing using SymPy Using the plotting library matplotlib for data visualization Data analysis and visualization using Pandas, matplotlib, and IPython Performing parallel and high performance computing Real-life case studies and best practices of scientific computing In Detail In today's world, along with theoretical and experimental work, scientific computing has become an important part of scientific disciplines. Numerical calculations, simulations and computer modeling in this day and age form the vast majority of both experimental and theoretical papers. In the scientific method, replication and reproducibility are two important contributing factors. A complete and concrete scientific result should be reproducible and replicable. Python is suitable for scientific computing. A large community of users, plenty of help and documentation, a large collection of scientific libraries and environments, great performance, and good support makes Python a great choice for scientific computing. At present Python is among the top choices for developing scientific workflow and the book targets existing Python developers to master this domain using Python. The main things to learn in the book are the concept of scientific workflow, managing scientific workflow data and performing computation on this data using Python. The book discusses NumPy, SciPy, SymPy, matplotlib, Pandas and IPython with several example programs. Style and approach This book follows a hands-on approach to explain the complex concepts related to scientific computing. It details various APIs using appropriate examples.

I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall. Emma Woodhouse is certain of one thing: that she an excellent matchmaker . . . even though she never been in love. Emma dives into the game of finding an admirer for her newest project, Harriet Smith. But Emma quickly realizes she in over her head and that she might lose everything if she keeps playing. Beautifully presented for a modern teen audience, this is the must-have edition of Jane Austen timeless romantic satire.

In combat, men measure up. Or don't. There are no second chances. In this vivid account of the U.S. Army's legendary 10th Mountain Division's heroic stand in the mountains of Afghanistan, Captain Sean Parnell shares an action-packed and highly emotional true story of triumph, tragedy, and the extraordinary bonds forged in battle. At twenty-four years of age, U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell was named commander of a forty-man elite infantry platoon a unit that came to be known as the Outlaws and was tasked with rooting out Pakistan-based insurgents from a mountain valley along Afghanistan's eastern frontier. Parnell and his men assumed they would be facing a ragtag bunch of civilians, but in May 2006 what started out as a routine patrol through the lower mountains of the Hindu Kush became a brutal ambush. Barely surviving the attack, Parnell's men now realized that they faced the most professional and seasoned force of light infantry the U.S. Army had encountered since the end of World War II. What followed was sixteen months of close combat, over the course of which the platoon became Parnell's family: from Staff Sergeant Greg Greeson, the wise, chain-smoking veteran who never lost his cool; to Specialist Robert Pinholt, a buttoned-down conservative with the heart of a warrior and the mind of an economist; to Staff Sergeant Phil Baldwin, the platoon's voice of calm and reason, a man who sacrificed everything following the events of 9/11 career, home, financial stability to serve his country. But the cost of battle was high for these men: Over 80 percent were wounded in action, putting their casualty rate among the highest since Gettysburg, and not all of them made it home. A searing and unforgettable story of friendship in battle, Outlaw Platoon brings to life the intensity and raw emotion of those sixteen months, showing how the fight reshaped the lives of Parnell and his men and how the love and faith they found in one another ultimately kept them alive.

Build an interactive and full-featured web application from scratch using Node.js and MongoDBAbout This BookConfigure your development environment to use Node.js and MongoDBUse Node.js to connect to a MongoDB database and perform data manipulationsA practical guide with clear instructions to design and develop a complete web application from start to finish Who This Book Is For This book is designed for JavaScript developers of any skill level that want to get up and running using Node.js and MongoDB to build full-featured web applications. A basic understanding of JavaScript and HTML is the only requirement for this book.What You Will LearnConfigure your development environment to use Node.js and MongoDBWrite and configure a web server using Node.js powered by the Express.js frameworkBuild dynamic HTML pages using the Handlebars template enginePersist application data using MongoDB and Mongoose ODMTest your code using automated testing tools such as the Mocha frameworkDeploy the development environment to the cloud using services such as Heroku, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft AzureExplore Single-Page application frameworks to take your web applications to the next level In Detail Node.js and MongoDB are quickly becoming one of the most popular tech stacks for the web. Powered by Google's V8 engine, Node.js caters to easily building fast, scalable network applications while MongoDB is the perfect fit as a scalable, high-performance, open source NoSQL database solution. Using these two technologies together, web applications can be built quickly and easily and deployed to the cloud with very little difficulty. The book will begin by introducing you to the groundwork needed to set up the development environment. Here, you will quickly run through the steps necessary to get the main application server up and running. Then you will see how to use Node.js to connect to a MongoDB database and perform data manipulations. From here on, the book will take you through integration with third-party tools for interaction with web apps. It then moves on to show you how to use controllers and view models to generate reusable code that will reduce development time. Toward the end of the book, we will cover tests to properly execute the code and some popular frameworks for developing web applications. By the end of the book, you will have a running web application developed with MongoDB and Node.js along with it's popular frameworks.Style and approach An easy guide to Node.js and MongoDB, which will quickly introduce you to the relevant concepts by taking you through the different steps involved in building a full-fledged web application.

Leverage the power of LibGDX to create a fully functional, customizable RPG game for your own commercial title About This Book Learn game architecture and design patterns with concrete examples using proper software engineering principles Save time and money with this handy reference guide for future game development with LibGDX Design and develop a fully functional RPG video game from scratch with a hands on, step-by-step approach using LibGDX Who This Book Is For If you are an intermediate-level game developer who wants to create an RPG video game but found the creation process overwhelming, either by lack of tutorials or by getting lost in a sea of game-related technologies, engines, or frameworks, then this book is for you. This book assumes familiarity with Java and some basic knowledge of LibGDX. What You Will Learn Develop characters with stat attributes, player movement, animation, physics, and collision detection Create interactive NPC characters with speech windows and build immersion via dialog trees Build inventory management system UIs with drag and drop items to sell, buy, and equip Design a quest system to expand out the content of your game Form interesting enemies with battle mechanics and spawn points Devise *ed cutscenes to add an element of story and drama Develop save and load game profiles Create special effects to give the game extra “juiciness” and polish, and help build the atmosphere In Detail LibGDX is a Java-based framework developed with a heavy emphasis on performance, and includes cross-platform support out of the box (Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, and HTML5) as well as providing all the low-level functionality so that you can focus on developing your game and not battling with the platform. LibGDX also has an engaged and responsive community, active maintenance, and is available for free without a prohibitive license. Starting from the beginning, this book will take you through the entire development process of creating an RPG video game using LibGDX. First, this book will introduce you to the features specific to RPG games, as well as an overview of game architecture. Then, you will create map locations, develop character movement, add animation, integrate collision detection, and develop a portal system. Next, you will learn and develop a HUD and other UI components, as well as an inventory management system. You will then develop NPC interactions including dialog trees, shopkeepers, and quest givers. After this, you will design and create battle features for fighting enemies, as well as event triggers for world events. Finally, you will add the final polish with sound, music, and lighting effects. By the end of this book, you will have learned and applied core components from the LibGDX framework, as well as have a finished game to use as a springboard for customization and story development for your own commercial video game. Style and approach This book walks you through the concepts and implementation of developing a complete RPG game, unfolding chapter by chapter and building upon previous concepts. Each chapter can be used as an individual reference with diagrams to explain core concepts with concrete example code explained in detail.

Design a complete workflow with Blender to create stunning 3D scenes and films step-by-step! About This Book Give life to a character within a full animated short film by learning the rigging and animation process Make use of the powerful tools available in Blender to produce professional-quality 3D characters and environments Discover advanced techniques by adding fur to a character, creating a grass field, and fine-tuning a shot with post-processing effects to enhance your creations Who This Book Is For This book will give any beginner the necessary skills and knowledge to create own 3D projects with Blender. You don't need to have any previous experience in 3D modeling, but if you do, then this book is a great way get you started with Blender. This book is for anyone who wants to learn Blender by creating concrete projects. What You Will Learn Understand the basics of 3D and how to navigate your way around the Blender interface Create a 3D robot toy model from start to finish using the basic modeling tools of Blender Make a full alien character using the skin mesh modifier and the sculpting tools with an artistic approach Use re-topology techniques to create a clean 3D version of the previously sculpted alien Model a full haunted house and its environment using more advanced modeling tools and techniques such as the Array Modifier, Instance duplication, or Curves Discover the power of the texture paint tool in order to add color to the haunted house Get to know the Cycles render engine by creating different materials for the house and the environment In Detail Blender is a powerful tool, stable, with an integral workflow that will allow you to understand your learning of 3D creation with serenity. Today, it is considered to be one of the most complete 3D packages on the market and it is free and open source! It is very efficient for many types of productions, such as 3D animated or live action films, architecture, research, or even game creation with its integrated game engine and its use of the Python language. Moreover, Blender has an active community that contributes to expanding its functionalities. Today, it is used in many professional products and by many companies. Through this book, you will create many types of concert projects using a step-by-step approach. You will start by getting to know the modeling tools available in Blender as you create a 3D robot toy. Then, you will discover more advanced techniques such as sculpting and re-topology by creating a funny alien character. After that, you will create a full haunted house scene. For the last project, you will create a short film featuring a rat cowboy shooting cheese in a rat trap! This will be a more complex project in which you learn how to rig, animate, compose advanced material, composite, and edit a full sequence. Each project in this book will give you more practice and increase your knowledge of the Blender tools. By the end of this book, you will master a workflow that you will be able to apply to your own creations. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow book that is based on four concrete projects, with increasing levels of difficulty. Each chapter will teach you how to create these projects step-by-step. New tools and techniques are introduced in a theoretical and practical way, so you can apply them in your own projects later.

Design and develop modern web applications with Google's bold and productive language through engaging example projects About This Book Full of engaging and varied example projects to equip you to build your own web applications Learn the Dart language and key libraries Productively create fast and reliable web applications Who This Book Is For If you are a front- or back-end web developer who is looking to build complex full-featured web applications without the quagmire of disconnected JavaScript frameworks, this book is a practical walkthrough of substantial applications that will have you and your team coding Dart in a productive manner. This book will give you a compiled, optional typed, scalable environment to rapidly develop applications. As Dart was designed to be familiar, any developer with even a small amount of knowledge of JavaScript or another programming language will be at home with the language immediately and will be coding quickly. What You Will Learn Master the core Dart language, type system, and key development tools Connect to existing web services, process JSON, and create your own framework for the data display Run and debug the Dart server and web applications and compile them in JavaScript Handle form data and encryption Build and deploy server applications on the major OSes and implement the REST API Work with PostgreSQL—an industry standard relational database system Create robust applications with unit tests, documentation, and diagnostic logging Develop command-line applications, and explore the key data structures and libraries In Detail Designed to create next generation apps, Google’s Dart offers a much more robust framework and also supersedes JavaScript in several aspects. Familiar yet innovative, compact yet scalable, it blows away the accumulated JavaScript legacy limitations. Dart was designed for great tool-ability and developer productivity, allowing you to create better application faster than before. Google chose it for their billion dollar advertising business and you have its power for your projects too. This book will introduce you the Dart language starting from its conception to its current form, and where it headed is through engaging substantial practical projects. You will be taken through building typical applications and exploring the exciting new technologies of HTML5. With example code projects such as a live data monitoring and viewing system, a blogging system, a slides presentation application, and more, then this book will walk you through step by step through building data-driven web applications with ease and speed. Style and approach A varied collection of compelling practical Dart projects that are developed progressively with full explanations of concepts and implementation. Each project introduces features of the language and environment, demonstrating how Dart can be used in rich structured web applications.

BRAAAAAINS!!! Zack Clarke, his best pal, Rice, and middle-school queen bee Madison Miller survived the night of the living dead but the nightmare's not over yet! Zack's sister is a zombie and his parents might be goners. Rice has uncovered the source of the zombie outbreak, and Madison's health-drink habit may be the key to a cure. Ozzie, the newest zombie chaser, is a nunchaku-wielding, monster-fighting machine who's ready to kick some undead butt. The whole country from their parents to the president is counting on them. Can the Zombie Chasers save the nation from brain-gobbling ghoulsOr will the US of A become the US of Z?

A Wildly Funny and Shockingly True Compendium of the Bad Boys (and Girls) of Western Literature Rock stars, rappers, and actors haven't always had a monopoly on misbehaving. There was a time when authors fought with both words and fists, a time when poets were the ones living fast and dying young. This witty, insightful, and wildly entertaining narrative profiles the literary greats who wrote generation-defining classics such as The Great Gatsby and On the Road while living and loving like hedonistic rock icons, who were as likely to go on epic benders as they were to hit the bestseller lists. Literary Rogues turns back the clock to consider these historical (and, in some cases, living) legends, including Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Parker, Hunter S. Thompson, and Bret Easton Ellis. Brimming with fasci- nating research, Literary Rogues is part nostalgia, part literary analysis, and a wholly raucous celebration of brilliant writers and their occasionally troubled legacies.

I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me . . . he's one of us. Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us if we all still believe in our mission. How can I knowThere are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting forAnd what about Number Five and SixCould one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreamsThe girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagineThe girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us togetherThey caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio and failed. I am Number Seven. One of six still alive. And I'm ready to fight.

Brilliant, funny, charming, imperious, Diana Vreeland the fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar and editor-in-chief of Vogue was a woman whose passion and genius for style helped define the world of high fashion for fifty years. Among her eclectic circle of friends were some of the most renowned and famous figures of the twentieth century artists and princes, movie stars and international legends, including Chanel, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Isak Dinesen, Clark Gable, and Swifty Lazar. Moving from English palaces to the nightclubs of 1930s Paris, the wilds of Wyoming to the exclusive venues of New York high society, D.V. takes readers into this iconic woman's dazzling life, evoking the luxury and brio of an era that encompassed Josephine Baker, England's Queen Mary, Buffalo Bill, and Diaghilev. Vibrant with the vivid, irresistible voice that elevated every tête-à-tête and dinner party, D.V. brings this renowned and uninhibited raconteur alive, whether recalling herself as a young girl, her search for the perfect red, her piquant observations about her world, or her abhorrence for nostalgia. Like her legacy, Vreeland's story, told in her own words, is a classic to be celebrated by both loyal admirers and a new generation of culture mavens and style savants.

Nancy Clancy returns in New York Times bestselling team Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser second Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy chapter book all about love! In the sequel to Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth , Nancy and Bree decide to play matchmaker, but nothing works out as planned. Will love conquer all in the endFans of Fancy Nancy will delight in joining Nancy Clancy as she takes on love in the second chapter book in the series. As always, the central theme of all the Nancy Clancy books shines through, showing the beauty of friendship and love.

This book provides a thorough look at the tools available within Redmine to facilitate the development of plugins and extensions. Full of tips and tricks, a recurring case study is also used to help guide you through the various content area extensions and plugin helpers and to provide context and realworld examples of the concepts being covered. This book is intended for those who want to build custom functionality into the Redmine project management platform. If you're already comfortable with Ruby, Rails, and Redmine, but you aren't quite sure what to do next, this book will walk you through the basics of getting a plugin written and integrated into various key areas of Redmine.

A handson certification guide with practical examples and sample questions and answers to help BizTalk developers pass the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 (70595) exam. If you are an intermediate level BizTalk developer who wants to pass the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 (70595) exam, then this book is for you. A working knowledge of fundamental BizTalk concepts around the core messaging engine and building business processes using orchestrations is assumed but not required. In addition, core knowledge of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and a basic understanding of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is recommended.

An easytofollow guide full of hands on examples of realworld Analysis Services cube development tasks. Each topic is explained and placed in context, and for the more inquisitive reader, there also more indepth details of the concepts used. If you are an Analysis Services cube designer wishing to learn more advanced topic and best practices for cube design, this book is for you.You are expected to have some prior experience with Analysis Services cube development.